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Alfred Nugent
Alfred Nugent was a character on the UK-US produced period piece, Downton Abbey. He was played by actor Matt Milne. Bane of Thomas' existence...and Sarah O'Brien's nephew An eager and willing worker, Alfred Nugent is one of the three footmen at Downton Abbey, a country house and estate in Northern England. He worked in a hotel after the war as a waiter and his family wanted him to aspire to being a butler. To this end, his aunt, Sarah O'Brien, the lady's maid of The Countess of Grantham, (his mother was O'Brien's sister) put his name up as footman. This did not sit well with Thomas Barrow, who was, at that time, the valet to the Earl of Grantham, as his regular valet, John Bates, was in prison. This was one of the factors which ended Thomas' friendship with Miss O'Brien, who had, up to that time, been friends and co-schemers. Alfred was very tall, which was initially met with disdain by Charles Carson, the butler, but he gave him a shot, and found to his surprise that Alfred was not only a good worker, but he knew what he was doing. Although he made a few blunders, Alfred was very good and he gained the trust of Carson. It was clear that Alfred became Carson's favorite. He and his aunt had planned to trip Thomas up, after he went too far in trying to derail Alfred. At first, O'Brien took the evening shirts of Robert Crawley in an attempt to make him look stupid, which succeeded. Later on, visiting lady's maid, Reed, the lady's maid to Cora's mother, Martha Levinson, would find the shirts and give them to Alfred to return. Much later, O'Brien had egged new footman, James Kent, into currying favor with Thomas, she also encouraged Thomas into a thought that James was attracted to him. The plan was to have Thomas being caught in a compromising position, with the end result of him hopefully being sacked without a reference and being thrown into prison for having gay sex (homosexuality being a criminal offense in the UK at that time). Alfred however, would become a target of the affections of Daisy Mason, the assistant cook, but he only had eyes for Ivy Stuart, the new kitchen maid. (James had eyes for Ivy, but she wanted nothing to do with him) This led up to a rivalry between the two women. He also gained a follower in Reed. However, Alfred did not want to be a footman forever (he became a footman to please his mother). His main ambition was to become a chef. He was always drawn to the work of preparing food. He felt more at home there, than he had ever felt as a footman. He had found out about a testing at the Ritz hotel in London, and it fit well with his dreams and ambitions. This was solidified when he helped make the sauces for the final dinner of a house party which had noted singer Dame Nellie Melba in attendance. This occurred when the cook, Mrs. Beryl Patmore had a panic attack. She praised him with the success of his sauces, saying they ate it and enjoyed it. So, with the aid of Daisy, Ivy and Mrs. Patmore he began to learn to cook. At one point, he made the savories for an Upstairs dinner, winning the respect and gratitude of the family. Along the way, he had to contend with the scorn and ridicule of Jimmy, who thought that Alfred's dreams were stupid. He was scolded in this thinking by Mrs. Patmore, Daisy, Ivy and Carson, all of whom thought that Jimmy was just being spiteful and jealous. After at first thinking he did not get in, another candidate got a job and left the training. Alfred got into the training taking the other person's place. He left the house, after expressing his gratitude for what the family did for him. He would excel in his profession and would, as revealed by Daisy, gain a job as a sous-chef at the Ritz. He asked Ivy to marry him, but she turned him down. He would return for the funeral of his father, and then he would go back to London (his mother and sister would leave Downton for good). He and Daisy would mend things when she prepared him a basket of food for him to take with him back to his new life in London (with the aid of her father in-law, Albert Mason). They would part on very good terms. Category:Downton Abbey characters Category:Fictional servants Category:Fictional cooks Category:Fictional footmen Category:Fictional valets